A Natural Vaccine for Autoimmune Disease? (Hmm)

Imagine it’s 400 years ago and you’re sick… turns out it’s the same thing that just killed your sister and her youngest son.

Fortunately, the Doctor knows exactly what to do. It’s something they’ve been doing for years, centuries actually. They even tried it on your family before they lost the battle…

He looks at you with stern confidence and gives you the “prescription:” Bloodletting.

That’s right, bloodletting.

It’s exactly how it sounds – patients were pricked, sliced, scraped, and cut to allow blood out of the body to “cure” diseases. That sounds crazy right?!

But at the time, bloodletting was commonly used to treat tons of conditions, like seizures, headaches, fevers, pneumonia, and to lessen any pain in the body. This practice actually killed people!

The use of bloodletting was pervasive until studies by scientists and doctors like Pasteur, Koch, and Virchow came along and showed the benefits of other treatment methods.

Now, we look at bloodletting like something crazy we used to do before we “knew better.”

But where might history be repeating itself?

Are there things we do today that someday will seem “crazy,” just like bloodletting? I look at treating autoimmune disease with long-term use of powerful immune suppressing drugs (which have a ridiculous list of side effects such as infection, cancer, cardiovascular disease, bone disease) like bloodletting.

For those that know me, reversing autoimmune disease is a passion project of mine. Not only did it almost kill me 7 years ago… but it actually killed my Mom back in 2005.

I firmly believe treating autoimmune disease with strong immune suppressing drugs will fall away to better treatment as our researchers continue to advance our knowledge and medical practices. One day we’ll look at drugs that turn off the immune system as a crazy thing “before we knew better.”

Why?

Because I believe we’re close to something better… a “Natural Vaccine” if you will – a possible treatment that reverses autoimmunity and prevents it from starting in the first place. What’s better… this “Natural Vaccine” is already inside you, and it has everything to do with new research I cover in this post.

But first, know this: it’s probably not what you think…

We Used to Think Autoimmune Disease Wasn’t Reversible

Autoimmune disease used to be viewed as a permanent condition.

When autoimmune conditions were first recognized over a hundred years ago, we thought it had everything to do with non-self antigens (like virus or bacterial infections). In fact, the condition was originally thought to be an infectious disease explained by the “Molecular Mimicry” theory, in which outside bacteria and viruses invade our body and look so similar to our own healthy tissue that the immune system wages war on both. [1] It was thought to be the worst kind of mistaken identity…

The “Molecular Mimicry” theory goes something like this:

A non-self antigen enters the body

The immune system mounts an attack against it, producing antibodies

The non-self antigen looks so similar to specific proteins in the body that it causes a cross-reaction to healthy tissue

The immune system attacks the non-self antigen AND its own tissue from that point forward

It’s important to point out that in this model, even if the non-self antigen (bacteria or virus) triggering the attack is removed, the autoimmunity never turns off. So, the body continues to produce antibodies and attack healthy tissue even though the initial trigger is gone.

The other part of the puzzle was the “Bystander Effect.” [2] This theory suggests that non-self antigens come into our body and damage healthy tissues during active infection, exposing it to the immune system. The body sees these newly exposed areas as “non-self,” leading to the development of immune attacks against that tissue.

The “Bystander Effect” theory goes something like this:

A non-self antigen enters the body

The non-self antigen damages healthy tissue in the body

The damage exposes parts of the healthy tissue that shouldn’t be exposed

The body attacks the newly exposed areas as if they are not self

Again, with this model, even if the bacteria, virus, or gluten that damaged the tissue is removed, the autoimmunity never turns off. So, the body continues to produce antibodies and attack the exposed tissue even though the initial trigger that damaged it is gone.

Now, a Doctor Specializing in Celiac Disease Research Uncovered a Different Story…

Researcher Alessio Fasano, M.D. has been on the forefront of recent autoimmune and Celiac disease research. In 2011, he published a paper, titled “Leaky Gut and Autoimmune Diseases,” introducing a new theory that suggests prevention and reversal of autoimmune disease is possible.

He presents the idea that three pre-existing conditions must all exist together in order for autoimmune diseases to develop. [3] They are:

A genetic predisposition to autoimmunity

An exposure to the environmental trigger

Increased Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut)

Step 1: Our Genetics Lead to Autoimmunity

We’re all born with a set of genes, which are handed down to us from our parents.

Genes are what dictate processes in our bodies, control our cells, and provide the blueprints for building new things (like proteins). Now, before we go further it’s important to note: not all the genes we have are expressed. Just tuck that thought away for now. What researchers are now discovering is that certain genes are linked to certain autoimmune disorders.

For example: if you have gene XYZ, then you have a higher likelihood, or greater risk, for developing autoimmune disorder ABC. More and more researchers are starting to identify some of these genes.

In the case of Celiac disease, the genes are HLA DQ2/DQ8. In Rheumatoid Arthritis they are looking at HLA-DRB1*0401 in mice. Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis was associated with various HLA genes that differed in populations. [4] Caucasian populations were associated with DR3, DR5, DQ7, DQB1*03, DQw7 or DRB1*04-DQB1*0301 haplotype. Japanese populations were associated with DRB4*0101, HLA-A2 and DRw53. In Chinese studies, associations with DRw9 were observed. Another inflammatory joint disease, Ankylosing spondylitis is associated with HLA-B27. [5]

The exact details of how each variation affects the autoimmune development process is not fully understood. The real question is: what turns these genetics on?

Step 2: The Environment Triggers That Turn on Autoimmunity

We now know that something has to trigger these specific genes for autoimmunity to occur… typically something foreign in the environment.

One key study puts it this way:

“It does appear that a close interplay between environmental triggers and genetic factors is responsible for the loss of immunological tolerance and autoimmunities. [6, 7] (Figure 1) Therefore, in relation to the role of heritability in autoimmunity, genome-wide association studies reported that genetics only accounted for a minority of autoimmunity cases, and in many cases disease discordance exists in monozygotic twins. [8] For this reason, research and publications dedicated to environmental factors in autoimmunity have grown by an average of 7% every year since 1997.” [9]

We see this when looking at identical twins where one gets the disease and the other doesn’t. They share the exact same genetic code, so they each have the genes that predispose them. But what makes these genes do what they do?

Turns out environmental factors have a huge role in what genes get expressed.

It’s like turning on a light switch.

Your genes are like a bunch of light switches in your house, but they aren’t all on – they are only on where you need them.

So, researchers are beginning to look at the environmental triggers that “turn on” these autoimmune genetic light switches.

In Celiac disease, the environmental trigger is gluten. In Rheumatoid Arthritis, there is a strong correlation between cigarette smoke and the onset of diseases. Crystalline silica (quartz) contributes to the development of several systemic autoimmune diseases, including RA and systemic sclerosis. [10] Epstein-Barr Virus may be related to the development of MS. [10]

How exactly these triggers work is also not fully understood. It’s not clear if they directly act on genes or if they are a catalyst in a series of events that leads to changes in gene expression. But we are starting to see something tying them all together.

Step 3: Leaky Gut – The Beginning of Autoimmune Disease

Right now, we don’t know what we don’t know about autoimmune disease…

Dr. Fasano’s work suggests that the environmental triggers have to interact with specific genes to turn them on… but how do they meet?

Turns out it’s in the gut.

In fact, Dr. Fasano’s work would suggest that we can’t have autoimmune disease at all without first experiencing leaky gut. So, if that was the case, we should be able to test for and find leaky gut in those people with autoimmune disease… which is exactly what the research is finding.

Check out this data composed by Dr. Mat Lalonde as part of his “Science of Nutrition” material… in the case of these 30 autoimmune diseases, when they tested for leaky gut in patients diagnosed with the condition, they found it:

Excuse Me, but Your Guts Are Leaking…

When your gut is leaking, those environmental triggers start to interact directly with your immune system… and your genetics.

Your gut is a hollow tube that is meant to keep the stuff that is outside your body, stuff like toxic food particles, environmental chemicals, and bacterial waste, from getting inside your body.

The tissue serves to selectively allow nutrients and certain molecules through the barrier and into your body. But not everything can or should pass through.

When that delicate gut tissue starts to break down (albeit from any or all of the aforementioned reasons), all that bad stuff is then able to leak through your digestive tract and into your body!

Once inside, these foreign particles travel to different areas of your body and trigger an immune response, promoting inflammation and jump-starting the development of chronic disease. Instead of keeping the bad stuff out, the delicate lining of your intestine is letting all the bad stuff in, and your body is breaking down from the inside out.

Theory to Practice – How Autoimmune Disease Happens…

So, right now the current thinking about the development of autoimmune disease goes something like this:

Step 1: Develop leaky gut

Step 2: Have the genes

Step 3: Environmental trigger turns on the genes

So… is it possible to reverse autoimmune disease?

Even if we don’t know the specifics of genes and environmental triggers in relation to specific autoimmune disease, Dr. Fasano’s groundbreaking work suggests that autoimmunity can be stopped and even reversed by removing the environmental/genetic trigger interaction.

That means we must fix leaky gut. That’s ground zero… where it all starts… and where medicine MUST look first when treating autoimmune disease.

And as I’m writing this, I’m completely confident my autoimmune disease has been reversed because I healed my gut.

What does that mean?

I’m not saying someone with Celiac disease can ever eat gluten again, or that someone with a completely destroyed thyroid can get off medication.

My definition of reversing autoimmunity is this: turning off the immune attack against the body for good.

In some cases, you can’t repair the damage if it’s already gone too far. How long your body has been waging war on its own tissue will determine what “reverse” means to you. If RA goes too far, permanent joint damage can occur. In autoimmune thyroid diseases, the thyroid tissue may be beyond repair. But what if you could stop it before it even got to that point… or before it went too far?

If you or a loved one is struggling with autoimmune disease, you know how crippling it can be when your body attacks itself. Struggling with this type of diagnosis can lead to serious depression… I know, because I’ve been there, too. 7 years ago, Celiac disease almost killed me.

But what if there was a way to begin to turn off the autoimmune response?

What if there was a way to calm down your immune system and allow it to begin to repair the damage?

Based on the work of Dr. Alessio Fasano, one of the first places to start is your gut… and we’re here to help you.

You could spend years trying to figure out how to “fix” your immune system… or you could register for this free one-hour webinar and we’ll show you how we did it.

If you can’t attend live, we will send you the recording, but you must click here to register to make sure you get the link the next morning.

As someone who suffered with autoimmune disease for years and almost gave up hope, I know your struggle. I hope you join us for the webinar to learn more about how I turned off my autoimmune response and restored my health.

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About the author

Jordan Reasoner is a health engineer and author. He was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2007 and almost gave up hope when a gluten-free diet didn’t work. Since then, he transformed his health using the SCD Diet and started SCDLifestyle.com to help others naturally heal stomach problems. You can check out his story here and find him on Google+, Facebook or Twitter.

Our apologies for the inconvenience. We’re experiencing a tech hangup with this link on our mobile site. I’d recommend, for the most reliable way to register, to head over to the blog post on your computer and register there. You can also try here on your mobile device: http://bit.ly/Reg-for-Autoimmune-Webinar-1

If the troubles continue, please email us at [email protected] and one of our Customer Happiness Engineers will take care of you as soon as possible.

I have been working on healing my body for the past three years. I have posterior uveitis and was damaged by conventional treatment and decided to stop with the medical “experts” and have recently come across the benefits of healing leaky gut. I am interested in healing this condition to save my sight. Thank you for the article.

This research sounds so encouraging. My mom had RA; was the trigger my dad’s chain-smokin. My sister has hashimoto’s and fibromyalgia, her daughter has Lupus. I just lost part of my colon after decades of gut issues. Thanks for making a recording of the webinar available.

Great article thanks. I seem to be one of those who have had this for so long, I come up with a brick wall at every turn. Healing your gut isn’t as easy as it sounds for some. The webinar would probably be at a bad time for us in the southern hemisphere, can we access it anytime?

I am so excited to see what you have learned and are sharing! I work with a company that has the only probiotic on the market that has properties to break down the exoskeleton of the bad gut bacteria allowing the good gut bacteria to assist in healing leaky gut. So many probiotic products seem to believe that massive overpopulation is the way to go but that still doesn’t get rid of the bad, problem bacteria. This company actually came up with a product that works and you won’t be finding it anywhere else anytime soon. Using this particular probiotic and implementing a good diet of the right foods is what I believe will be key to regaining good health for so many suffering from autoimmune diseases. Looking forward to seeing what your plan is! If you’d like to talk more about this probiotic feel free to message me. Maybe you could turn it into a combo offering to your clients.

I can t attend but would appreciate the recording sent to my e mail please. I m suffering with a few auto-immune diseases, leaky gut, Hashimoto s, a skin issue, pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome,PCOS, excess DHEA, fibromyalgia . Just a few.. I tried one dr. To help me heal it, but it s so expensive. So I m gonna try doing it on my own. I wish the insurance companies helped out more here and the rest of the medical world. I ve been learning about gluten intolerance and paleo diets for chronic inflammation. So much to learn there. Any help is greatly appreciated.. thank you Lisa Stults

You mentioned every autoimmune disorders except one I have Chronic. Sacoidosis were my body continues to attack itself and form polyps hardens and weakens my immune system when did u not at this one that kills many ethnic groups as well

Im with you on point 1&2 but you loose me on 3. Up until a few months ago, I would have been on board but since then I’ve met a man who has (and I hate using this word regarding autoimmune disease, but there is no better alternative) ‘cured’ numerous people of Celiac disease within weeks of seeing them. Friends who have had it for years – severe – are eating breads,croissants and other gluten products with no problems whatsoever. He is working on my autoimmune disease (Wegeners Granulomatosis – but I’m in medically induced remission, but he’s gotten rid of all the aches/pains I thought would plague me for life despite the remission.) His theory is that most autoimmune disease is caused by metal toxicity, and/or a parasite infection. He has 100% success rate with Celiac disease with only a few weeks (at most) treatment.

The idea is that the elemental toxicity is at microscopic level (base elements from the periodic table) that there is no current diagnostic tools in Western Medicine that can test for it. The body is trying to eliminate the toxicity and it appears like the immune system is attacking the self but it’s not. The parasite discussion is heavy with Celiac but is also a factor with other AI diseases. My neighbor (Celiac) just saw him was diagnosed with a tapeworm. She couldn’t believe it, went to her medical doctor to get him to check. They did all sorts of tests but told her she was clear and there was no parasite in her. She hummed and hawed and finally decided to give it a go. Within a week of starting the anti parasitic, she excreted a 14 foot tapeworm. She is now eating gluten. Same with another friend who was Celiac for 7 years. Ringworm with her. Gone within a month and she had her first croissant in 7 years. Leonard combines disciplines that normally don’t talk to each other when it comes to healthcare. Particle physics (they’re busy looking for the God particle,) chemistry (left only for the pharmaceutical companies interested in our awesome ‘return customer for life’ quality,) and chronic illness.
My mom is a new woman after seeing him, from over a decade of pain and not eating food due to diverticular disease (another diagnosis that is the same as saying ‘we haven’t got a clue’) and other chronic conditions that the doctors told her are in her head (the usual response you get when a doctor is stumped) are all gone now after two months of seeing Leonard.
He’s so onto something, we will read about him in the future. If you’re in the Vancouver area you can get rid of your chronic issues just by thinking slightly outside the box. http://Www.muscletesting.com

It started off with blood letting which I found very interesting because I had never heard that before as it relates to autoimmune. And it ended with leaky gut which we have all heard 1000 times before. What was this article about? What happened to the blood letting? How does this all tie in i don’t get it. I’m always looking for some alternative treatment because autoimmune as you know can be quite elusive in it’s response to different treatments. I’m really curious about the blood letting.

Hi JackWebb, thanks for your question. Bloodletting is a great example of a generally accepted way to treat illness back in the day which relates to how we’re probably going to be looking back at how autoimmune disease is being medically treated today and wonder “What the heck were we/they thinking? (depending whose shoes your in of course) There’s a link to more information on bloodletting in the article if you like, but it really isn’t the focus of the article per se. The overarching idea is that we’re seeing massive results in those with autoimmune issues following the principles we teach in our webinar. Hope that clears it up some =)

Hi Brent, I’ve registered for the webinar event in July 29/15, I will not he able to attend it alive, would you please send me a reply the following morning. Thank you very much for the hard work and helping others to reverse their autoinmune desorders. Thank you all.

Hi! My 7 year old daughter has extreme eczema all over her body. I know we need to limit her diet but how? She already feels different because of her skin and gluten and dairy free diet. Sticking to the diet is so tough! In need of some major help! Any suggestions for kids on the webinar?

Hi Michelle, thanks for reaching out. We know changing your (and even mores your kids!) diet is difficult, but based on our research skin problems like eczema are a sign of leaky gut, and changing your diet and lifestyle are key to healing.

Hi! I got registered for the webinar, but how will I access it? Do I go to a certain website…please let me know.
Also, I believe a strong trigger for autoimmune disorders is a traumatic event. I suffer from 5 autoimmune disorders that I know of (Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, food allergies- getting tested for Celiac, firbromyalgia, chronic IBS & borderline for Lupus) . I did the SIBO testing and it came back positive as well, so the Dr did say that I have leaky gut. Each time that I started showing signs of a new autoimmune disorder or had major flare ups, it has been during or after a highly traumatic event in my life.
I’m excited to attend the webinar and gain some more insight on healing myself, and helping others to heal.

Hi Jennifer! Everyone who registers for the webinar is sent a link a attend a a replay link the next day in case they can’t attend live. Please check your inbox (and your spam and junk folders, too, they sometimes end up there on accident!)

We’re so glad you’re going to be attending the webinar! Based on what you’ve written, I think you’ll learn a ton of useful information from the webinar. Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions!

Hi Deb! Thanks for reaching out. The best place to start is by taking the personalized Leaky Gut quiz, which will help you sort through some of your issues and symptoms and give you direction: http://solvingleakygut.com/myquiz/

We also highly recommend you register for one of our free Solving Leaky Gut Webinars, where the following will be addressed and much more:

I would love to attend! I have tried many things and had a dr test me for parasites. I was told I had leaky gut, celiacs and hashimotos. I learn and try everything. I have been dojng amazing on Isagenix which detoxes the body and fixes nutritional deficiencies. But I am very interested in having this parasite thought investigated. I had a protozoa when I was testdd which they said would go away and was probably from eating sushi. I never did anything else after this. What is the best lab to be tested? Or do you just treat as if hou have one?

Hi Kimberly! Thanks for commenting 🙂 Steve and Jordan discuss their recommendations in the webinar, but the decision to test is really up to you – Steve and Jordan think it’s okay to proceed with treatment based on symptomology in many cases. They also will discuss their treatment plan for root causes of digestive problems like parasites. If you attend the webinar you’ll learn more about which specific tests they recommend for testing for parasites, SIBO and more and how to order them. Here’s the link to register for the free webinar if you haven’t already: http://solvingleakygut.com/webinar/live/

I have been dealing with so many different symptoms for over 2 years and am still trying to still find out what is wrong with me. I’ve done research for the past 2 years and I’m almost positive that I have one or more autoimmune diseases. What are all the tests givin to find out if it is

If you think you have an autoimmune condition, the first place to go is to your doctor – they can run all the right tests based on your symptoms (they’ll likely start with some simple blood tests like C-reactive protein and ANA – but your doctor will know which tests will be best in your specific situation).

I have a problem like i have autoimmune
But after i go to hospital(rhematology spesialist) he told me that i should take some blood test to know if i have autoimmune or not.i have check ana & rhematoid factor and the result is negative
the symptom that i feel is fatigue,dry eye,my saliva is also reduced,hard to sweat,nausea especially in the morning,pins and needles,and my bone is always make some noise
Anybody know how reduced or cured my symptom

Hey more of a search to see if anyone else is dealing with an auto immune condition called wegener’s granulomatosis and successfully treating it naturally. This past 2 years has truly been a quest I was not expecting to start, as I was about to go back to college. At the time I was a very active 23 year old that liked to snowboard weekly, workout daily, but also a bit of a nerd that gamed nightly. It was right before I was planning to go back into college I was dealing with increasingly painful joints which I thought was from too much working out and past injuries. Also for about 3 years I couldn’t really breath through my nose prior to this time which later factors into my diagnosis.
I’ll try to shorten this up as much as possible. I finally went and got some blood work done around 2 and a half years ago I believe it was. The test came back with a positive RA factor in the high range. I later went to a Rheumatologist that told me that I may have RA with the current symptoms I had, along with some red marks I started getting around my ankles. At this time I also started getting even weirder symptoms like night sweats, more frequent head aches, bloodshot eyes, and worsening joint issues. The Doctor proscribed me to take 25mg of prednisone on a tapering dosage daily, until eventually putting me on methotrexate. I didn’t tell the doctor but I never did start taking the methotrexate out of fear of the drug, instead I continued on a lower does of prednisone around 5mg a day for a couple months. For sometime before starting to feel better I struggled to walk, and even move my blankets from the pain. Noted I also have a very high tolerance for pain but this was nothing like breaking a bone, or getting stiches. It was the well known constant pain that most people with auto immune diseases deal with. During this time I was in and out of the doctors office for different symptoms, or the 3 surgeries that I had on my face. The first 2 surgeries I had were on my nose to clear my sinus passage which was completely closed off. The last 1 I had was on my tear ducts because those also closed off from the disease as well, and I was getting bad tear duct infections prior to the surgery so it was a must. I went from being a very fit 215 pound 6’2 guy to a 137 pound guy =/.
During this time I started to look at natural cures for auto immune disease’s in general. I had no real direction not knowing what exactly I had yet, so I started on a vegan diet, which could of been great but I am VERY picky >..<. Eventually I settled on more of an AIP diet, and felt improvement. After awhile I stopped taking the steroids when I felt better from the diet. I felt great for about 6 months, but still sometimes would have tiny aches and pains here and there. I figured it was probably from damage that was already done. But 1 day came along when I was scheduled for a check up, they took a urine sample, blood showed up in the test. They had me get blood work done, that led to me a kidney doctor. She was already talking about putting me on very high doses of steroids in fear that my kidneys were on the road to failure. She then had me get a kidney biopsy which was a crappy experience but not the worst. After jabbing my kidney 6 times, and getting the results later the kidney doctor said the disease was no longer active in my kidneys so she could not treat it with the steroids. So I was happy about that hoping the diet was really working its magic. More recently I was finally diagnosis with something and it was called Wegener's Granulomatosis. I honestly kinda wrote it off since I was feeling great and seeing all the success of other people on an AIP/paleo diet online and in books that I had ordered.
Today I looked up if anyone had ever cured their Wegener's with a natural approach, but could find anything. The only thing I found were people sayinig Wegener's was different than other auto immune diseases and could not be controlled with a diet. So I'm at the point where I know the diet helps, but I'm not sure if I just temporarily shut the disease off with the steroids. I currently eat 2 coconut flour pancakes stuffed with blueberries and strawberries, and homemade ginger tea in the morning. Then a blender drink with 3 cups of kale, 1 cup of cauliflower, 1 cup of raspberries, half a can of full fat coconut milk, water, and some enzymes for mid day lunch. Then finally a sweet potato made into french fries, with either salmon, or grass fed beef. Along with some good natural spring water throughout the day. With this current diet I'm back up to 149 pounds and still feel pretty good, but still have the congested nose. I only worry now that it may come back. But also do not want to go through with the intravenous steroids they want to put me on out for fear of cancer and infections.
If anyone is currently dealing with the same condition or have a recommendation I am all ears!

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